Page 109 of Ravaged By Lust

Caspian sits down in despair.

Chloe takes my hand.

Axel looks around at all of us. “Shit,” he says, the situation finally dawning. “This is going to be big fucking news.”

49

SEVEN YEARS AGO

BISHOP

My heart is broken over Chloe Stoll, but I hide it well.

I hide it from Drake Sharpe as he tells us about this band he wants to create.

I hide it from Caspian Ford, the band’s new drummer.

And I especially hide it from Axel Stoll. He and I have had our war of words. Our fight over his sister that came to blows – and a black eye on my end - and now we’ve come to a truce.

But I still haven’t healed my heart.

She hates me now. Chloe Stoll will always hate me.

And I’ve got to live with that to pursue this dream.

One day, when I am super rich and famous and living far away from here in some big mansion, I’ll swoop on back to Crystal River and impress the girl. Maybe then she’ll forget and forgive the past.

Maybe.

“We’re going to do this right,” Drake says. We’re all standing in his parents’ garage, our instruments ready. Ravaged’s first practice session. “I have serious aspirations for us. We could get big someday. We could make real money from this. We could live our lives doing what we love. But we’ve got to work hard, and we’ve got to take this seriously, and we’ve got to make Ravaged the most important thing in our lives.”

We all nod in agreement.

We’re all on the same page.

We want to make it big.

“No hard drugs,” Drake continues. “We’ve got to stay focused on the music. Die doing the music. I want you to swear by it.”

“I swear,” Caspian growls.

“I swear,” Axel says, looking at me. There’s still a touch of animosity there, but I know it’ll pass in time.

Drake’s laser-like attention turns to me.

“I swear,” I say.

“And I swear,” Drake says. “In fact, let’s set up some rules before we play our first note. Number one, in order to not get distracted, no long-term girls…”

EPILOGUE

CHLOE

We’re all back at Axel and Maddie’s place, debating what our next moves are going to be.

As he came to after Caspian’s wild punch, we all took Harold to the nearest hospital and left him in their care, making sure any health expenses go straight to us. We didn’t know what else to do. The man’s fine, by the way. Caspian knocked him the fuck out but didn’t kill him.

Truthfully, I’m surprised that Harold hasn’t been punched like that before, but this is Caspian we’re talking about. The man is built to take on the heavyweight champion of the world, so that one punch was more than enough.